Anne Bosch

I was born in the UK and grew up on a small farm in Yorkshire. I always had an adventurous spirit so after pursuing a career in accountancy for many years I decided to take a sabbatical and came to Africa spending the last 3 months of my trip as a volunteer in South Africa.

I enjoyed my time as a volunteer so much that I returned again and again over the next couple of years to volunteer at a HIV hospice near to Durban. As an accountant I had no experience in nursing or even in the care profession but quickly learned that with a little initiative much could be achieved.

At some stage in 2008 I stumbled across Isibani and on my first visit learned they would soon be taking over an old school site to open a community centre. The idea of being involved in the setting up of the centre and working on a grass roots level in the community was very exciting and in 2009 I decided to leave my UK work and UK life and become a full time volunteer at Isibani and here I am!

I got married in 2013 and now live on a smallholding in Winterton with my husband.

Life at Isibani is never dull and in my first few years I was very involved at the centre on an operational level – home visits, feeding scheme, first aid, crisis management etc. Initially I was determined that I didn’t come all this way to do accounting but as time went on I realised that there was a huge need for accounting skills within the NPO sector.

I now have an office at home as Isibani offers too many distractions and I am responsible for the accounts of Isibani, Isiphephelo and another couple of local NPOs.

Africa is my home now and I am living my dream. I think the best kind of work is the kind that doesn’t feel like work and I get to do that every day.

It is such a privilege to be able to support so many amazing projects and to meet so many inspirational people along the way.